A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books

Sigfried Giedion: Liberated Dwelling Reto Geiser (Editor) Lars Müller Publishers , January 2019 Hardcover/paperback in two volumes w/transparent slipcase | 5 x 7-1/2 inches | 100/96 pages | 86 illustrations | English/German | ISBN: 978-3037785683 | $40.00 Publisher Description : Sigfried Giedion’s small, but vocal manifesto Befreites Wohnen (1929) is an early manifestation of modernist housing ideology and as such key to the broader understanding of the ambitions of the International Congresses of Modern Architecture (CIAM) and the debate on the industrialization of construction processes and its impact on public housing at the beginning of the twentieth century. An important step in Giedion’s rise as one of the foremost propagators of modern architecture, this manifesto is based on the argumentative power of visual comparisons, and the only book the art historian both authored and designed. The German facsimile edition of Giedion’s Befreites Wohnen is completed by an Eng...

Zoned Out! Race, Displacement, and City Planning in New York City Tom Angotti, Sylvia Morse (Editors) UR (Urban Research) , 2017 Paperback | 6 x 9 inches | 176 pages | English | ISBN: 978-0996004138 | $20.00 Publisher Description : Gentrification and displacement of low-income communities of color are major issues in New York City and the city’s zoning policies are a major cause. Race matters but the city ignores it when shaping land use and housing policies. The city promises “affordable housing” that is not truly affordable. Zoned Out! shows how this has played in Williamsburg, Harlem and Chinatown, neighborhoods facing massive displacement of people of color. It looks at ways the city can address inequalities, promote authentic community-based planning and develop housing in the public domain. dDAB Commentary : In March, when my book NYC Walks was released, I was fortunate enough to be  in conversation with Michael Sorkin at Rizzoli Bookstore . Following our talk a...

Fundamentals: 14th International Architecture Exhibition Rem Koolhaas Marsilio, 2014 Paperback | 5-1/4 x 6-3/4 inches (mini version) | 582 pages | English | ISBN: 978-8831718691 Publisher Description : Fundamentals is the official catalogue of the 14th International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Biennale and it describes its three interlocking components: Elements of Architecture; Monditalia; and Absorbing Modernity: 1914-2014. Together, these chapters presents the 2014 Architecture Biennale as a whole, illuminating the past, present and future of the architectural discipline.   dDAB Commentary : Reviewing  A Moving Border  the other day prompted me to pick up my copy of Fundamentals , the catalog to the 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale. The former arose from a project in the Monditalia section of the Biennale, one of three sections that Rem Koolhaas created when he curated the exhibition. The others were Absorbing Modernity 1914-2014 and Elements o...

Spots in Shots: Narrating the Built Environment in Short Film Mélanie van der Hoorn nai010 Publishers , March 2019 Hardcover | 8-1/2 x 10-1/4 inches | 240 pages | 120 illustrations | English | ISBN: 978-9462084568 | $50.00 Publisher Description : Spots in Shots explores a selection of little-known but fascinating short films made in Europe and the US between 1990 and 2017 that tell stories about architecture and urban development. Based on interviews with the filmmakers, the book asks how cinema can stir public interest in the oeuvres of architects. Among the numerous cinematic gems discussed here are John Smith’s Blight (1996); Kibwe Tavares and Factory Fifteen’s Jonah (2012); Assembly Studios’ Fort Dunlop Green (2004); The Neighbourhood’s Saxton Leeds (2008); Imagen Subliminal’s El Espinar House (2013); Squint/Opera’s Post Barnsley (2003); Jem Cohen & Luc Sante’s Le bled (Buildings in a Field) (2009); Gabriel Kogan & Pedro Kok’s Casa Redux (2014); and Jor...

Designing TWA: Eero Saarinen’s Airport Terminal in New York Kornel Ringli Park Books , 2018 Hardcover | 8-1/2 x 11 inches | 224 pages | 240 illustrations | English | ISBN: 978-3906027753 | $60.00 Publisher Description : When it opened in 1962, the TWA Flight Center at New York’s JFK airport was a sensation. Created by Eero Saarinen with a distinctly birdlike design, it was instantly seen as a striking emblem of the romance of air travel. More than half a century later, it remains a beloved icon of modern architecture. Designing TWA is the first book to tell the whole story of Saarinen’s building, from its early planning through its closing in 2001 after the takeover of TWA by American Airlines. Documenting the terminal’s commission, planning, building, and use, architect Kornel Ringli reveals the constant tension between the operational needs of the airline and Saarinen’s visionary imaginings—revealing the TWA building as an incredible architectural achievement that nonetheless...

A Moving Border: Alpine Cartographies of Climate Change Marco Ferrari, Elisa Pasqual, Andrea Bagnato Columbia Books on Architecture and the City with ZKM | Center for Art and Media, December 2018 Paperback | 8-3/4 x 11-1/2 inches | 228 pages | English | ISBN: 978-1941332450 | $30.00 Publisher Description : Italy’s northern border follows the watershed that separates the drainage basins of Northern and Southern Europe. Running mostly at high altitudes, it crosses snowfields and perennial glaciers—all of which are now melting as a result of anthropogenic climate change. As the watershed shifts so does the border, contradicting its representations on official maps. Italy, Austria, and Switzerland have consequently introduced the novel legal concept of a “moving border,” one that acknowledges the volatility of geographical features once thought to be stable. A Moving Border: Alpine Cartographies of Climate Change builds upon the Italian Limes project by Studio Folder, which w...

Projects and Their Consequences: Reiser + Umemoto Jesse Reiser, Nanako Umemoto Princeton Architectural Press , May 2019 Flexicover | 9 x 12 inches | 320 pages | 400 illustrations | English | ISBN: 978-1616897192 | $60.00 Publisher Description : Projects and Their Consequences presents fifteen key projects from leading architectural thinkers Reiser + Umemoto. Projects and Their Consequences traces thirty years of innovative, multidisciplinary investigations of form, structure, technique, and planning. Projects include large-scale studies of infrastructure for the East River Corridor and Hudson Yards areas in Manhattan and the Alishan Railway in Taiwan, as well as schemes for cultural institutions including the New Museum, Children's Museum of Pittsburgh, and University of Applied Arts Vienna. Also included are thought-provoking "textual projects": narrative works that blur the boundaries of art and architecture. Projects and Their Consequences balances incisiv...